Running a Pizzeria Basics Review by Ruth Paget
Before he was a Food Network personality and owner of a Micheli-starred restaurant, Mario Batali owned a pizzeria in Greenwich Village in New York City.
His book Molto Gusto shares his experience gained in organizing the food offerings that go beyond Neapolitan pizza at this pizzeria and offer some insight into what to offer on a pizzeria menu.
Batali organizes his book into the following chapters:
-vegetable antipasti
-seafood and meat antipasti
-cheese
-insalata
-pasta,
-pizza
-gelato and sorbetto
As I read through these chapters, I thought that if you could master making these items, sourcing ingredients, and keeping a steady inventory, you could run a successful pizzeria like Batali did and give yourself the cash necessary to finance a more formal restaurant.
Batali like most Italians stresses the importance of buying local, organic produce at farmers’ markets for the best results. Batali suggests vegetable antipasti like the following to take advantage of spring and summer bounty:
-spring peas with mint, red onion, red wine vinaigrette, and sea salt
-shaved fresh asparagus with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt
-green beans with charred onions, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, olive oil, and sea salt
-cherry tomatoes with crème fraîche and chives
-radishes with butter and salt
Batali lists 11 kinds of meat antipasti. Charcuterie is often eaten by Italians so they do not have to heat up the home to make meals. (The Columbus brand at Costco and Nob Hill makes it easy to sample Italian charcuterie in Salinas, California.)
In the cheese chapter, Batali lists many kinds of cheese that can be eaten alone, shaved on salads, or grated on dishes to be baked. The cheese in the book is photographed, identified, and described for the following varieties:
-Parmigiano-Reggiano
-Pecorino Romano
-Tuada
-Vento d’Estate
-Caciotta
-Baia Friuli
-Bra
-Ubriaco
-Castel Rosso
-Brunet
-Mozzarella di Bufala
-Burrata
-Stracchino
-Fresh Ricotta
-Smoked Ricotta
-Marzolino
-Cacio di Roma
-Bel Paese
-Taleggio
-Blu di Langa
-Gorgonzola
-Sampietrino
Batali provides his pizza dough making recipe which uses high protein 00 flour. He provides recipes for the classic pizza recipes of Naples including:
-Marinara made with stewed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, chile pepper, and oregano
-Margherita made with tomatoes, olive oil, mozzarella, and basil leaves
-Romana made with tomatoes, olive oil, anchovy fillets, capers, chile pepper, and mozzarella -Napoletana made with tomatoes, olive oil, anchovy fillets, capers, and Gaeta olive
-Quatro Formaggi made with tomatoes, mozzarella, Taleggio, cacao di Roma, and Parmigiano-Reggiano
-Quattro Staggioni made with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Taleggio, cacao di Roma, and Parmigiano-Reggiano
You can eat very well as a family using recipes in Molto Gusto by Mario Batali and learn the skills needed to work in a pizzeria or maybe one day run or own a pizzeria.
Molto Gusto by Mario Batali provides much insightful information into the food of Italy, especially Naples, making it a good reference for lovers of Italy as well as cooks.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
